Third Quarter Mortgage Delinquencies Hit New Record AGAIN

[AllentownJake]

Fresh numbers call into question the sustainability of the recent drop in foreclosures.

But at least the second derivative is getting better.

NEW YORK (AP) -- The good news is that the pace at which people fell behind on their mortgages slowed during the summer for the third quarter in a row. The bad news is the overall delinquency rate hit another record.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, 6.25 percent of U.S. mortgage loans were 60 or more days past due, according to credit reporting agency TransUnion. That's up 58 percent, from 3.96 percent, a year ago.

Being two months behind is considered a first step toward foreclosure, because it's so hard to catch up with payments at that point.

The rate was up 7.6 percent from the second quarter. That's a much smaller jump than the 11.3 percent rise in the second quarter from the first, and the 14 percent leap seen in the quarter before that.

While the slowing growth rate is a positive sign, the increase shows there's still a lot of problematic mortgages out there, said F.J. Guarrera, vice president of TransUnion's financial services division. The company doesn't expect the figure to start declining until the middle of 2010.
http://www.businessinsider.com/third-quarter-mortgage-delinquencies-hit-new-record-again-2009-11

[KG]

1. I Think I Just Passed Some Green Shoots.

:applause: